'US-UK torture' victim wins right to sue British government

Britain’s High Court has dismissed the UK government’s claim that US-UK relations would be compromised if a Pakistani man who claims to have suffered brutal torture at the hands of American and British troops is given the right to sue for damages.

Yunus Rahmatullah claims he was tortured for a decade following
his capture by UK Special Forces in Iraq, and his subsequent
handover to American soldiers in Afghanistan.

Following the High Court’s ruling, Mr Justice Leggatt said on
Wednesday that British courts would be failing in their
fundamental duty to uphold the law if they didn’t deal with the
claims. Whether the court eventually finds US forces acted in an
unlawful manner is irrelevant, he said.

“For the court to refuse to decide a case involving a matter
of legal right on the ground that vindicating the right would be
harmful to state interests would seem to me to be an abdication
of its constitutional function,” Leggatt said.

Rahmatullah’s lawyer, Kat Craig, who works for legal charity
Reprieve, says her client was forced to endure “some of the
most shocking abuses of the ‘War on Terror’.”

Craig added that the victims of UK torture and rendition like
Yunus “deserve their day in court.”

The British government finally withdrew its claim that blocking
the Pakistani man’s lawsuit was a necessary means of preserving
Britain’s strategic relations with the US after former US
ambassador Tom Pickering derided the coalition’s stance earlier
this month.

“It is highly unlikely the US government would limit
intelligence cooperation with the UK if British courts heard
Rahmatullah’s or similar claims,” he told The Guardian.

Wednesday’s ruling, which paved the way for Rahmatullah to pursue
his lawsuit, also holds serious implications for three Iraqi men
who claim they were abused by British soldiers at several prisons
in Iraq.

The men allege they suffered severe abuse by British soldiers in
Iraq prior to being handed over to American troops. One man says
he was forced to contend with severe sexual abuse at the
controversial Abu Ghraib prison during this period.

Reflecting on Rahmatullah’s victory on Wednesday, his lawyer,
Sapna Malik, of law firm Leigh Day, said it was “high
time” the British government abandoned attempts to flout
“judicial scrutiny” of its actions involving the US in
both Iraq and Afghanistan. Such a move would ensure justice could
“finally be served” for what occurred in these states,
she added.

‘Compelling public interest’

The High Court’s verdict follows a recent ruling of a court
appeal that another rendition case should be heard in British
courts. In this particular case, the British government made
similar claims that UK courts’ pursuance of the proceedings would
hamper Britain’s strategic relations with America.

The appeal was brought by Libyan political figure Abdel Hakim
Belhaj and his wife Fatima Boucher against MI6 and former foreign
secretary Jack Straw.

In a joint CIA-MI6 covert operation, the couple was kidnapped in
2004. They claimed during in-depth court statements they were
tortured by former Libyan despot Muammar Gaddafi’s forces.

At the close of the proceedings, the court said there was a
“compelling public interest” in assuring the English
court system investigates these “grave allegations.”

In both the Belhaj and Rahmatullah cases, the Ministry of Defence
(MoD) and Foreign Office argue Britain’s State Immunity Act and
Foreign Act of State hold the power to stop UK courts from
processing and hearing claims that may impede upon the nation’s
national security.

Government lawyers say they plan to challenge both judgements in
Britain’s Supreme Court, the Guardian reports.

A spokesperson for the MoD told RT on Wednesday it is currently
analysing Wednesday’s High Court ruling and is considering
whether to appeal the judgement.

The spokesperson claimed the MoD has “seen no evidence to
support the very serious allegations of mistreatment made by the
claimants.” Britain’s Iraq Historic Allegations Team has
supposedly been tasked with investigating such allegations.

Last year, the Supreme Court denounced Rahmatullah’s treatment by
American and British forces as a breach of the law and
potentially a war crime.